Rogers,+Lamont

Tungsten



Atomic Number: 74 Atomic Mass: 184 Solid Metal

Discovered in 1783 by Fausto and Juan Jose de Elhuyar. Tungsten means heavy stone. Used widely in electronics industry and in:


 * Foil
 * Insulated wire
 * Ear weight for dogs
 * Golf club inserts
 * Mesh

History

 In 1758, the Swedish chemist and mineralogist, Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, discovered and described an unusually heavy mineral that he called "tungsten", which is Swedish for heavy stone. He was convinced that this mineral contained a new and, as yet undiscovered, element. It was not until 1781 that a fellow Swede, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who worked as a pharmacist and private tutor in Uppsala and Köping, succeeded in isolating the oxide (tungsten trioxide). Independent of Scheele, two Spanish chemists, the brothers Elhuyar de Suvisa, first reduced the mineral wolframite to tungsten metal in 1783. 

Tungsten, also known as Wolfram, lapis ponderous or Heavy Stone, has highest melting point of all elements except carbon. It also has also excellent high temperature mechanical properties and the lowest expansion coefficient of all metals. A temperature of about 5700°C is needed to bring tungsten to boil. Tungsten is also among the heaviest metals.

Pure tungsten is a shiny white metal and, in its purest form, is quite pliant and can easily be processed. Usually, however, it contains small amounts of carbon and oxygen, which give tungsten metal its considerable hardness and brittleness.



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